Colston was the #36 WR in PPR and #32 in standard formats in 2014. His return puts a dent in Kenny Stills' upside, since Stills was likely to see starter's snaps with Colston out of the way. Brandin Cooks will continue to man the slot and is the best fantasy bet of the bunch.

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Marques Colston might be back with the New Orleans Saints next year. But just in case he isn’t, the Saints cherished his game-winning touchdown in Sunday’s 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for all it was worth.

Colston was awarded a game ball after turning a short pass into a 36-yard TD with 1:57 remaining. And the usually-stoic veteran even shed a tear, fellow receiver Robert Meachem told The Advocate.

“You couldn’t have scripted a better ending,” said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who acknowledged that assistant coach Joe Vitt had made the team aware of certain milestones they could reach in the season finale -- including the fact that Brees and Colston could move into fifth place in NFL history with 68 touchdowns as a duo (they broke a tie with Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne).

Fantasy Impact:

Brees, Meachem and receiver Kenny Stills all insisted that they expect Colston to be back in 2014, even though his future is in doubt since he’s due $7 million in salary and bonuses. But the emotion they all expressed made it clear that they’re prepared for the possibility Colston, 31, might be done after nine seasons with the Saints. Colston could take a pay cut to stay, the story pointed out, but Saints may want to move on with a healthy Brandin Cooks back next year to go along with Stills, who emerged this year after injuries slowed his start to 2014.

Saints beat writer Mike Triplett on how the team will replace injured WR Brandin Cooks:

The Saints will rely even more heavily on Jimmy Graham and receivers Marques Colston and Kenny Stills going forward. Colston has been more inconsistent this year than ever before with too many dropped passes. But the Saints haven't lost faith in him. He's continued to lead them in snaps each week, and he led them with eight targets and 56 receiving yards against the Bengals.

From a fantasy standpoint, I might stubbornly give a slight nod to Colston over Stills for that reason -- though it's close, and both should see slight increases in production.

It will be interesting to see if this also opens the door for deep-threat receiver Joe Morgan, who has only caught one pass all season while being mostly inactive (and suspended for two weeks for an unspecified team issue). Morgan flashed his dazzling big-play potential with 10 catches for 379 yards and three touchdowns in 2012. But then he missed all of 2013 with a major knee injury.

Fantasy Impact:

Both Colston and Stills should see more targets, but we view Stills as the better fantasy acquisition since he has been posting strong WR3 numbers since Week 7. He has averaged 4.2-58-.40 in the last five weeks, and that was with Cooks still in the lineup. For more on Stills, be sure to read the Sleeper Alert that Senior Editor John Paulsen wrote in the preseason.

New Orleans Saints rookie wide receiver Brandin Cooks broke his thumb in Sunday's 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and could miss as much as a month, according to reports.

Cox Sports Television first reported the news Monday morning, as did NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport.

Cooks, the Saints' first-round draft pick in May, has 53 receptions for 550 yards in his rookie season.

Saints coach Sean Payton will meet with the media later Monday, although he typically doesn't discuss injuries.

Fantasy Impact:

Cooks is second on the Saints in receiving yards after tight end Jimmy Graham. His absence would leave Marques Colston and Kenny Stills as the top two WR targets for quarterback Drew Brees. Stills is a guy likely on wires who could see an increase in targets as a result. The Saints play Monday night in Week 12 at home against the Ravens.

The New Orleans Saints announced Thursday that receiver Joseph Morgan was placed on the reserve/suspended list and replaced by tight on Tom Crabtree on the 53-man roster. Coach Sean Payton declined to elaborate on the reason, and none has been revealed yet.

It appears as though it may have been a team suspension and not a league suspension, though that has not been confirmed. The move did not appear on the NFL’s transaction wire as of Tuesday.

Morgan, 26, has not played in a game since Week 1 (he’s been inactive five times this season). But when asked why during the course of the season, Morgan always insisted that there wasn’t any disciplinary reason for it. As Morgan has said, the Saints typically only use four receivers on game days, and the Saints had him below Marques Colston, Brandin Cooks, Kenny Stills and Robert Meachem in the pecking order.

Chances are, all of the Saints' receivers and tight ends will see slightly more targets instead of any one player replacing Jimmy Graham's production. That could mean a little more from Brandin Cooks, Kenny Stills, Benjamin Watson and Josh Hill. But the player that New Orleans will likely count on most is receiver Marques Colston, who works the middle of the field and the red zone in a similar fashion.

Colston has been up and down all season with some clutch catches but also a costly fumble in Week 1 and several drops. Quarterback Drew Brees will remain confident in him on those crucial third-down throws, though.

"I don't think it affects the receivers with Jimmy being out, other than it gives them more opportunities. I mean, Jimmy's balls have to go somewhere," Brees said. "Listen, that's Ben Watson, that's Josh Hill, the tight ends as a whole. And those guys are certainly capable and will do a great job, I've got so much confidence in them. But as a receiver corps, you just know throughout the course of a game those balls are getting spread out … you don't know how things are going to shake out."

Fantasy Impact:

The article identifies Colston as the biggest beneficiary, so owners should be more willing to plug him in the lineup after a rough start to the season. We believe that Josh Hill is the best play of the two tight ends, though it doesn't sound like he's going to see a huge number of snaps with Graham likely sidelined.

Graham's absence will increase the workload for Ben Watson and, to a lesser extent, Josh Hill. We'll start to find out this week if recent tight end acquisition Tom Crabtree will have a meaningful role in the offense.

Finally, don't overlook running back Travaris Cadet. The Saints like lining him up outside as a receiver in four- or five-receiver sets, and there could be more of those on Sunday.

Fantasy Impact:

Hill is more of a "move" TE than Watson, though it was Watson who was targeted heavily (7) when Jimmy Graham was injured. Hill has a couple of touchdowns on the season and can run. Hill played a season-high 32 snaps in Week 5, so he figures to get extra snaps with Graham out.

Brandin Cooks had 14 more snaps than Marques Colston who wasn't targeted in the game. Cooks had 55 to Colston's 41. It wasn't a great day for Saint WRs though as non had more than three catches. Robert Meachem led the way with 37 yards. Cooks played the most but had just 17 yards. He did have two rushes for 31 yards. As long as Jimmy Graham remains a target, Saint WRs will have a lot of up and down weeks.

In the running game, Pierre Thomas led the way with 26 snaps to Mark Ingram's 20. Ingram had another big day with 11 rushes for 83 yards and a TD. Both backs had three catches.

Friday, September 12, 2014, 7:30pm

Saints WR Kenny Stills (quadricep, probable) took full practice reps on Friday after being limited earlier in the week and is probable for Week 2. The probable tag means that Stills should make his return in Week 2. He will likely play alongside Marques Colston and Brandin Cooks in three-wide sets, replacing Joe Morgan in the lineup.

“He’s impressive,” Brees said. “He can do a lot of things. He’s a very smart player. He’s intense, when he’s out there, it’s business. He can do a lot of things for us.

“We’re really excited about him as we go along here, continuing to build packages around him and give him opportunities. Brandin can do some things. He’s explosive.”

Likewise, Cooks sees where there will be myriad opportunities for him to thrive in the Saints' offense. He was one of four players Sunday with at least five receptions and 58 receiving yards.

Fantasy Impact:

Although it was probably best to wait-and-see how Cooks was used before putting him in lineups, it's safe to say he'll be inserted starting Week 2. There will likely be up and down weeks for Cooks, however, as there are just too many targets in the Saints lineup. Kenny Stills was out of the lineup which certainly helped Cooks' targets and playing time. He was second among WRs in snaps behind Marques Colston.

A couple of notes here: Thomas led all backs with 34. So much for being the Saints RB3. It looks like Thomas will have a big role with the offense but so will Ingram. Ingram had 14 touches while Thomas had 13, six of which were receptions. Robinson also had a TD in the game on six rushes. The other note is rookie WR Brandon Cooks who had 7 catches for 77 yards and a TD and even rushed one for 18 yards. Morgan played on 49 snaps but didn't record a catch.

he development of wide receiver Jarrett Boykin last season was a major reason why the Green Bay Packers felt comfortable allowing valuable veteran James Jones to depart for Oakland in unrestricted free agency. Boykin's further development this summer might limit the playing time of rookie Davante Adams.

In February, coach Mike McCarthy predicted that Boykin, who would be entering his third season, had another performance jump in him. On Tuesday, McCarthy left no doubt that he would think he was right.

"Clearly, Jarrett Boykin has taken the next step," McCarthy said. "I just love the way he plays. He's had an excellent camp.

"He's physical, his toughness, he's relentless. I think he's exceptional at the top of his route. You see his strength and balance to separate from a DB."

Adams, a second-round draft choice, has been feeling his way as the team's No. 4 receiver. He's had good days and some not so good ones.

Fantasy Impact:

After Randall Cobb went down, Boykin stepped in and served as the Packers de facto WR3, catching 49 passes for 681 yards and three scores. In games where he played at least 59% of the snaps, he averaged 4.3-61-.27, which equates to 124 fantasy points over a full season. That’s about what Marques Colston scored as the #27 WR in 2013. Cobb is back, but James Jones is gone, so Boykin should play a lot in the Packers’ patented three-wide attack. The only concern is rookie Davante Adams, but first-year wideouts don’t usually play much in Green Bay. Boykin seems to have held off Adams for the WR3 job, which bodes very well for his fantasy value.

Now that he's back, Stills is back to improving on his rookie season where his speed helped him catch 32 passes for 641 yards and five touchdowns.

Fantasy Impact:

Stills returns from a quad injury but missed out on team building at The Greenbrier in West Virginia and missed out on getting in better shape. Even missed offensive snaps with QB Drew Brees. Stills and Cooks were close on our WR list at one opint, but now Cooks shot up to 34th while Stills is 44th. Just about anyone in the Saints offense can have value but the downfall is there could be some boom and bust weeks with both Cooks and Stills.

Saints WR Joe Morgan is in a dogfight, though for the fourth and fifth roster spots with Nick Toon and veteran Robert Meachem (also known for his combination of excellent blocking and deep speed). It’s hard to imagine the Saints will keep all three of them, since they typically keep only four receivers active on game days. But it’s also hard to imagine any of the three getting cut just yet.

Fantasy Impact:

Morgan has been catching up and making this more of a battle. From a fantasy perspective, there isn't really any consistent value here as the top-three of Marques Colston, Kenny Still and Brandin Cooks should see a bulk of the snaps at WR.